Motorists who stop at local shops for ten minutes should no longer be issued
with parking tickets, Eric Pickles has said.

Mr Pickles, the Local Government Secretary, said he wants to end the “over-zealous culture of parking enforcement” and called on “officious” wardens to be more lenient in a bid to help boost the economy.

Risking a major clash with local councils who rely on revenue generated from parking fines, Mr Pickles warned that the “rigid state orthodoxy of persecuting motorists” is damaging small businesses across the UK.

It is understood that ministers are considering new rules which would prevent parking wardens issuing penalties to people who briefly stop on high streets to visit their local shops.

Mr Pickles also called for Town Halls to create more off-street parking spaces to take pressure off busy roads.

Whitehall planning guidance brought in by Labour in 2001 restricted the amount of parking spaces in new developments.

This in turn resulted in more people parking their cars on the streets, which led to greater numbers of expensive parking permits.

Councils were also discouraged from setting lower parking charges that would attract more shoppers into town centres, while further guidance encouraged them to increase parking charges.

Speaking at the Conservative spring forum at the weekend, Mr Pickles said current parking rules need to change, indicating that he is considering bringing in new laws to assist car owners.

“Thirteen years of Labour's war on the motorist have created an over-zealous culture of parking enforcement,” he said.

“Extending CCTV, not to catch criminals, but to catch you out the moment you park on a yellow line. A rigid state orthodoxy of persecuting motorists out of their cars, with no concern about its effect in killing off small shops.”

Mr Pickles added: “Councils should allow more off-street parking spaces, to take pressure off the roads. They should end dodgy town hall contracts which reward and encourage the proliferation of fixed penalty notices.

“I believe we need to give people the good grace to pop into a local corner shop for 10 minutes, to buy a newspaper or a loaf of bread without risking a £70 fine.”

Mr Pickles also used his speech to mock Chris Huhne, the disgraced former Cabinet minister serving a jail sentence for perverting the course of justice over a speeding fine he received more than a decade ago.

“Officious parking wardens move in faster than a Liberal Democrat on the M11,” Mr Pickles said. “This needs to change.”

Local authorities’ total income from parking reached £1.27 billion in 2011.

According to recent research, some households in London are spending more than £600 a year on residents' permits, meters and fines.

The average bill for a London household is £109.60 and it is £37.49 for England and Wales.

Mr Pickles last year vowed to expose the “great council cash cow cover-up” over parking.

Whitehall sources said that Mr Pickles is “very keen” to explore any ways to make it easier to park on high streets and at the same time ensure that people do not receive “pointless” parking fines.